Gabe Vincent leaves Heat in NBA free agency for three-year, $33 million deal with Lakers

MIAMI — Gabe Vincent has received his payoff for his path from undrafted free agent to NBA Finals starter, leaving the Miami Heat on Friday for a three-year, $33 million contract with the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Heat had the ability to offer a similar deal, but were hamstrung by their position hard against the NBA luxury tax.

The loss of Vincent leaves Kyle Lowry as the lone true point guard currently under contract to the Heat.

Vincent joined the Heat on a two-way contract in 2019-20, after going undrafted out of Cal-Santa Barbara in 2018. He then emerged as a rotation regular, taking over as the Heat’s starter at midseason this past season after Lowry was sidelined by knee pain.

Over his four NBA seasons, Vincent has not earned more than the $1.8 million he earned this past season.

It is the second time in three years that an undrafted prospect developed by the Heat has cashed in with the Lakers, with Kendrick Nunn departing the Heat in 2021 free agency for the Lakers.

With Vincent gone, the Heat now figure to seek a replacement either through a minimal contract in free agency or in a trade.

As for Vincent, he now is off to play with LeBron James and Anthony Davis, on a team that lost to the Denver Nuggets in last season’s Western Conference finals.

Vincent and the Heat lost to the Nuggets in the NBA Finals, with Vincent starting all five of those games for the Heat.

The Heat got early perspective on the going price for point guards, with the Chicago Bulls signing away Javon Carter from the Milwaukee Bucks with a three-year, $20 million deal; the Nuggets retaining point guard Reggie Jackson at $10.5 million over two years; and Tre Jones returning to the San Antonio Spurs for $20 million over two years.

Many of the league’s early signings came with various forms of the mid-level exception, an exception that Heat do not qualify for due to an already bloated payroll that includes Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, Lowry, Tyler Herro and Duncan Robinson. The Lakers signed Vincent utilizing such an exception.

As for the Heat’s potential targeting of Damian Lillard on the trade market, the Portland Trail Blazers went above and beyond when it came to retaining their other prime veteran, agreeing to a five-year, $160 million contract with forward Jerami Grant.

As for teams the Heat will be competing for seeding against in the Eastern Conference, the bolstering included the Cleveland Cavaliers agreeing to a three-year, $26 million contract with Philadelphia 76ers guard Georges Niang; the Indiana Pacers luring former University of Miami forward Bruce Brown from the Denver Nuggets with a two-year, $45 million contract; and the Orlando Magic signing away Joe Ingles from the Bucks on a two-year, $22 million deal.

Those staying in place in the East included Khris Middleton remaining with the Bucks on a three-year, $102 million deal; Cam Johnson staying with the Brooklyn Nets on four-year, $108 million contract; Kyle Kuzma returning to the Washington Wizards on a four-year, $102 million contract; Jakob Poeltl staying with the Toronto Raptors on a four-year, $80 million agreement; Coby White staying with the Chicago Bulls on a three-year, $33 million deal; and Caris Levert staying with the Cavaliers on a two-year, $32 million deal.

While the Heat had been linked by one report earlier in the day to Kyrie Irving, the mercurial guard instead returned to the Dallas Mavericks on a three-year, $126 million deal. The reported Heat-Irving meeting did not take place.

With salary-cap space drying up around the league – teams committed over $1 billion in salary over the first hour of free agency – it severely limits, if not eliminates, the ability for the Heat to trim salary, and therefore ease the team’s luxury-tax pinch.

Exhibit A is Lowry, who is due $29.7 million this coming season, on the final year of the three-year, $85 million contract he signed with the Heat in 2021 free agency.

Exhibit B is Robinson, who is due $18.2 million this coming season on the third year of the five-year, $90 million free-agency contract he signed in that same 2021 offseason.

Essentially, no team now can take either of those contracts into cap space. For the Heat, trimming payroll through moves with Lowry or Robinson therefore likely would require taking back salary, instead of the cleaner excising of contracts.

The benefit of patience with Lowry and Robinson, beyond possible on-court contributions in 2023-24, would be holding on to such salaries to package in a mega-trade, with Lillard the biggest name being floated in that regard. With Lillard, it could come down to how proactive the Trail Blazers stand in acquiring supporting veteran talent.